{Product Review} Philips Airfryer

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“If you’ve been following me on twitter on instagram/flickr, you would have known I’ve been putting the new Airfryer through some tests. The Airfryer was launched on April 1st 2011 – as a healthier alternative to deep frying. Whilst I had tweeted about receiving one for testing, a few suggested it was just merely an...”

The Airfryer was launched on April 1st 2011 – as a healthier alternative to deep frying. Whilst I had tweeted about receiving one for testing, a few suggested it was just merely an oven. So this had me thinking…. what is really just a small, good looking oven? Happily, after test #1 (pigs in blankets), I’m happy to confirm it’s not; it’s much better!

The Airfryer boasts the ability to cook great tasting food with 80% less fat. Making it easy to produce fast, convenient, tasty cooking at home, allowing you to enjoy simple fried foods without the hassle or mess. You can prepare some fries or wedges within 12 minutes – far quicker than oven roasting them.

You can use the pre-set cooking times of up to 30 minutes whilst you get on with other jobs, and should you wish to interrupt the cooking process to check out your food is going; you can do that too!

Food separator accessory – lets you prepare multiple foods at once (e.g. fish and chips can be cooked all at once)

Integrated air filter – less vapours and odours

I’ll be honest, the thought of actually buying a deep fryer had crossed my mind a few times; but the thought of using so much oil and what to do with it when I had finished deep frying, let alone the epic mess that I would have been left with was enough to put me off. But with the Airfryer there is none of that epic mess. The removable parts are non-stick and dishwasher safe (if you are lucky enough to have a dishwasher…. and if you are… grrr I envy you!). Cleaning up took no time at all, and the most amount of oil I used was 2 tablespoons; hardly a waste!

So let’s see my results with recipes from the cookbook that comes with the Airfryer:

Test #1 – Pigs In Blankets

I’ve made pigs in blankets in the oven before, and they were fine, I didn’t know any better. Using the Airfryer made the puff pastry so amazingly crsipy, crunchy and more awesome than I thought puff pastry could be. I could only fit about 10 at a maximum at a time in the basket; 8 more comfortably so they crisped up without touching each other. Whilst an oven would be better for cooking a large quantity at once, I’d the rather Airfried version, even if it took twice as long.

Test #2 – King Prawns with Ham & Red Pepper Dip

Char-grilling capsicum is something I would do if our BBQ actually had a gas bottle attached to it…. we are too lazy to do something about that. And whilst you can do it in an oven, or carefully over a gas burner; 10 minutes in the Airfryer and it’s done! I couldn’t believe how easy it was. Usually when doing it on the BBQ I’m standing there monitoring it, turning it and giving it lots of TLC. YAWN… put it in the Airfryer and get on with preparing the rest of the dish. I was surprised how perfectly it cooked the prawns; I was worried they would be underdone, but they were bang on.

Test #3 – The French Fries / Wedges Test

Here photographed is my first batch of wedges. I cut them fairly unevenly, so I think if I cut them more smaller they would have been better. They were still awesome. I tried again when I got home from work; I had a craving for airfried chips. It all comes down the variety of potato you use and how evenly you chop them. I know, I tried with two differently varieties and one toooootally didn’t work as well as the other. I think there is still a bit more experimenting to be done (longer cooking time, different types of potatoes), but I did achieve some crispy chips. Would like to try using a packet of store bought chips to see how they go as well.

* 24/5/11 Edit: I cut the potatoes into chip shape, par boiled them, then airfried them. MUCH better result, much crispier and they don’t look as dry as these ones. This is definitely the secret to perfect chips, as they were crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

Test #4 – Potato Croquettes with Parmesan Cheese

A bit more fiddly to make but well worth the effort. The crispy outer (looked better in the book but I’ll perfect my novice shaping), and gorgeously fluffy, cheesy, potato-y insides sent me to a happy place.

I would have really liked to have tried making the brownies in the Airfryer, but ran out of time. When I do, I’ll let you know

Overall…. I totally love the Airfryer. I highly recommend it and will be whipping it out whenever I can to make my life easier!

The Philips Airfryer comes with a recipes book with 30 recipes from chips, to brownies; finger food to full meals.

It is available from leading electrical and department stores with RRP $329. But shop around, I’m sure you can find it cheaper, and it’s totally worth it.

Comments

39 comments on “{Product Review} Philips Airfryer”

Love it! That looks totally brilliant. When you say you used 2tbs of oil, do you mean for each of those dishes? Not for all of them? The food looks so tasty & healthy. Going to see if they are available in the UK.

I can see the time saving, and thus energy savings with using this. I also have a feeling that things come out crisper than they would out of the oven. My only issue is its size – saw one today and it’s quite big. Might wait for the next incarnation.

With chips, I read that the variety is key. Waxy ones are good for long cooking in stews as they retain shape. Starchy ones are good for frying? And finally, soft ones are good for mash? Can’t remember which is which but a quick Google search gives you the type that is best for each type of cooking.

I first saw this in a catalogue and it looked quite small, but then saw it in person and realised it is actually pretty big, but doesn’t hold much food at a time! I never thought of it as an oven, but come to think of it, it probably is! The reason why it can cook faster is because it’s smaller and the heat is probably more concentrated!

Glad to know it works… it’s a nifty looking and sounding gadget but the food looks kinda dry? Did it taste dry?

And I think that Tefal should send you their version so you can compare both! I’d be interested in knowing which one is better.

I first saw this in a catalog and it looked quite small, but in person it is actually quite big. I never thought of it as an oven until you mentioned it, but it’s true. The reason why it can heat stuff up quicker is cos it’s smaller!

Glad to know it works… though the food looks kinda dry. Did it taste dry?

I think Tefal should send you one of their versions to test because I would like to know how it compares!

What a great review Shellie! I love how you put the fryer to so many tests, and even better it passed every one of them. This fryer looks fantastic. I refused to buy a deep fryer but this is really tempting me as I love that you can make such wonderful food with a small amount of fat.

I bought the Tefal Actifry as soon as it was released in Australia, a year or two ago. I liked it so that I could make thick chips. They cooked well and I could see them cooking through the lid, and the paddle turns them for even cooking. But they take 40 minutes.

On the downside, the Actifry has only one heat setting. Also, when I cooked pumpkin in the Actifry to go with the chips, when the pumpkin became soft, the paddle (which locks the pan in place) began to break it up and partly mash it. Also, while the Actifryer has a timer/alarm, it doesn’t turn the unit off.

I’m going to try a Philips Airfryer (if it’s not too big) to see how that goes.

I have a large family of 6. Is the basket big enough to cope with enough food or would I have to do so many sittings. Then would I just be putting everything in the oven to keep warm and making everything soggy again? Is the basket big enough with the divider to do fish on one side and chips on the other? If so how many do you think it would feed doing it that way? thanks for all your advice

Hi Di,
The basket is quite small for a large family I would say. It fed the two of us comfortably, but if you are doing fish and chips at the same time, you may struggle to get enough food out at once to feed everyone at the same time. If you are still unsure, I’d suggest you go check out a demo model at an electrical store.

I have been thinking of buying airfryer for a long time, your article convince me to buy and try it out… I am also feeling the same as you as I hate to waste oil after fried the food, and it is not good to reuse back cooked oil … so airfryer is definitely a good choice , hope my decision is right

It would all depend if it could fit in the basket. Treat it like a small oven and cook at the time per kilo and 20 degrees less as its fan forced would be my suggestion. Good luck!

Michele Froidevaux

All content on this site by Michele Froidevaux, otherwise known as Iron Chef Shellie. Her skills include food styling in her kitchen studio, lifestyle and travel photography across Australia, restaurant photography on location, building social media for her clients, recipe development with love, menu consulting for cafes and graphic design for people with discerning tastes :)